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Osgoode Hall's centre section (left, late 1850s) and red brick east section (right, 1832) with Toronto's City Hall (1965) behind
Osgoode Hall's centre section (left, late 1850s) and red brick east section (right, 1832) with Toronto's City Hall (1965) behind

Osgoode Hall

Osgoode Hall, one of the oldest buildings in Toronto (opened 1832), is the home of the Law Society of Ontario as well as the highest courts of the province.

As I was sitting on the grassy lawn outside, reading about the architecture, I was startled when a large clump of leaves fell on my papers. Looking up, I realized I was seated beneath a healthy horse chestnut tree. Looking down, I found a set of husks which had split open, exposing the glossy brown chestnuts. A nice early autumn nature moment in the centre of downtown Toronto.

Chestnut

Behind me was one of Osgoode Hall’s famous kissing gates. The cast iron fence was erected in 1867, the same year as Canada’s confederation, and the story I’d always heard was that the gates were meant to keep wandering cows off the lawn.

However Osgoode Hall’s excellent audio tour, narrated by Curator Elise Brunet, notes that by 1867 Toronto was already a commercial centre with gas lighting, piped water, and streetcar service. So it’s more likely that the gates, which permit only one person to enter at a time, were a means of crowd control rather than cow control.

Kissing gates at Osgoode Hall, facing Queen Queen Street
Kissing gates at Osgoode Hall, facing Queen Queen Street

This 1856 photo, looking north along York Street 11 years before the iron gates were installed, makes it clear this was no rural neighbourhood.

Toronto from the top of the Rossin House Hotel, looking north up York Street towards Osgoode Hall. Courtesy City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1498, Item 16. Can you believe downtown Toronto ever looked like this??
Toronto from the top of the Rossin House Hotel, looking north up York Street towards Osgoode Hall. Courtesy City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1498, Item 16. Can you believe downtown Toronto ever looked like this??

Others have done a better job taking pictures of Osgoode Hall’s glorious Great Library (check out the Law Society’s of Upper Canada’s photo).

However, always on the search for London-related things, what captured my attention in the Great Library was this stone. The audio tour transcript states:

The large chunk of rock next to the war memorial was a gift from the Inner Temple, one of the four English Inns of Court, which are more or less the British equivalent of the Law Society. The Inns of Court go back to the Middle Ages and they are all located in the heart of London in England.

When London was bombed during World War Two, their buildings suffered extensive damage. The Law Society here raised funds to help the Inns rebuild and the ‘rock’ is a piece of one of the original buildings that was sent as a token of their gratitude.

"This stone was presented by the Inner Temple to the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1949"
“This stone was presented by the Inner Temple to the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1949”

There were so many things of interest during my visit to Osgoode Hall, and I’d recommend that anyone pop in for a look around (Monday to Friday 9-5). The last thing I’ll mention that made me go “wow” was this collection of British soldiers’ calling cards, discovered during a 2001 renovation. Osgoode Hall housed troops from 1838 to 1843 following the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion, and these were left behind … What an extraordinary find!

Soldiers' calling cards, found at Osgoode Hall during a 2001 renovation
Soldiers’ calling cards, found at Osgoode Hall during a 2001 renovation

Osgoode Hall is museum no. 62 in my #100museums challenge (see 100 Museums Challenge).